Medvedev links Moscow Metro bombings and Dagestan attacks

President Dmitry Medvedev has said the explosions in Russia’s North Caucasian Republic of Dagestan and the Moscow Metro attacks are links of the same chain.

“The terrorist attacks in Moscow and Dagestan are all links of the same chain; all this is the manifestation of the same terrorist activity which has recently started to resurface in the Caucasus,” the Russian president said at a Security Council meeting.

…the terrorists' goal is to destabilize the situation in the country…

“The terrorists' goal is to destabilize the situation in the country, destroy civil society and spark fear and panic among the population,” Medvedev said. “We will not allow this. And everything that will be done will be aimed at bringing together our nation. As for the criminals, all of them will be found and eliminated,” he stated.

Just two days after the bloody attacks in the Russian capital that killed 40 people and injured over 120, two more blasts rocked the city of Kizlyar in Dagestan, taking the lives of twelve people. Some 23 people have been hospitalized with various injuries as a result of the explosions.

Premier Vladimir Putin shares the same opinion as the president. He said he does not rule out that the explosions could have been organized by the same terrorists who masterminded the Moscow Metro attacks.

“There is a chance that the same group is behind these attacks,” the Prime Minister said on Wednesday at a session of the government's presidium.

…we consider these crimes against Russia…

“We have already said everything about hunting terrorists during the tragic events on the Moscow Metro. But I would add that it does not matter where such crimes take place or who falls victim – we consider these crimes against Russia,” Putin stressed.

The assumption about the connection between the bombings was also echoed by Dagestan’s president, Magomedsalam Magomedov, who took office in February this year.

“[There was] a chance for terrorists to return to a peaceful life, but they have not taken it,” Magomedov said. “We will continue eliminating them until we eradicate them all. However, this does not mean that we will only use methods of force,” Magomedov added.

Meanwhile, the Russian premier Putin ordered the government to provide aid to the victims of the Kizlyar bombings.

“Until the end of the day a corresponding resolution should be prepared to provide aid to the victims and the families of those who were killed in the terrorist act in Dagestan, like it was formulated in a resolution on assistance to the victims of the Moscow Metro blasts,” Putin said as quoted by Itar-Tass.